A general forum

[Dr. Keren Goldfrad]

This is our chance to discuss different issues that deal with teaching the Holocaust. We can attach files that we think will help others in the field, direct people to interesting websites, discuss certain dilemmas and questions that came up during our lessons, and more.

[Melissa Keys]

ב"ה
My activity was on the story:" A chicken for the holidays" by Bernard Gotfryd.
I started the activity by putting a picture of a chicken on the board and then brainstorming the word chicken. I then gave the encyclopedias definition of a chicken which is :" a domestic fowl." I talked about the fact that this is an oxymoron. On the one hand, the chicken is a fowl; it is a bird which can fly freely. However, on the other hand, the chicken is domestic, ruled by other people. I talked about the fact that the Jews in the holocaust were also on the one hand, people, who are usually free. However, they were also ruled by others, by the Germans.
I then divided the class in to two groups. Each group had to make up a puzzle that on one side was a picture of the holocaust and on the other was a comparison between the boy and the chicken in the story (the comparison was done by sentences from the story demonstrating different points about the boy and the bird. Each sentence about the boy demonstrated a different point and had to be put next to a sentence demonstrating the equivalent point about the chicken). The points that were discussed were the fact that the chicken and the bird were both scared, small- hungry, the boy walked while there was a gray sky- the chicken was gray, the chicken was also yellow- the boy had to wear a yellow star, the boy had to come back by curfew- the chicken was tied up. In addition, I discussed the same reaction of the boy and the bird to the people they met together on their way from the farm back home. In the first meeting, they both acted calmly because they met a farmer who didn't harm them. However, when they later met a SS. soldier the boy was very scared and the chicken started to move and make noises.
I then talked about the differences between the boy and the chicken. The chicken moved and made noises when he was afraid. It is as if he protested against the soldier. Whereas, the boy couldn't protest, he stayed quiet.
That is why the chicken died; the boy killed him because it said what the boy couldn't.
I talked about the death of the chicken as a positive symbol. Due to the fact that like the kappoarot where the chicken dies and the person receives life. I read with the class a small part you say during kapparot.
The death of the chicken and the fact that the family did not eat from it also symbols that even though the Nazis could maybe break our bodies they could never break our souls.

[Efrat Myzel]

By the railway track: She dared.

Letters from the trains

I start my activity by saying that the story is about a woman who jumped off a train which was destined for an extermination camp.
I tell my students that during the Holocaust some Jews threw letters out of the trains. These people hoped that their letters would be found and sent to their destination.

We can learn and take out a lot of information about the Jews' life, their internal feelings and wishes through those precious letters.

Then I give my students letters that were written by Jews throughout the Holocaust and were found in several ways. The letters are available on the "Yad Vashem" site.

I tell them that while they read they should look for information that they can dig up from the letters.

After they read, I ask them to tell the class about what they read, who wrote the letter and who was the letter addressed to, what the main issue is and how they felt while reading it.

There are 2 kinds of letters: the personal ones which were addressed to a specific person, usually children or family members. These letters are naturally more personal and emotional. The second type of letters is more public. They usually say: "whoever finds this letter please publish it!" The writer is actually saying: Publish my letter to the world. Tell everybody of the cruelty of the Nazis and the suffering of the Jews. These letters tell us what their writers were going through. They are much more informative and ask the readers to bear witness!

You can raise the dilemma whether it is legitimate to publish personal letters; Is it fair towards the murdered to do it without their permission?.. Or maybe it's our duty to learn from their authentic testimony. By reading their letters are commemorating those brave Jews.

Then I put up photographs of Jews gathered together in the ghettos, "selections" and by the trains. I ask the students to choose one woman from the "mass" of people, as the Nazis treated those people, and to imagine that one of the crowd is the woman from the story. That woman probably went through all of those "stations".
Then, I ask them to write a letter to the woman they focused on.

This activity: 1. helps the student to connect with the woman from the story and to understand that real people had been there. It makes the "stations" more realistic, though the situation in the story seems surrealistic.
2. It makes the student identify with her pain and on the other hand, with her bravery.
3. It also gives the student the opportunity to "talk" with this woman.
4. Emotionally, it allows the student to unload his feelings about this hard and unperceivable situation.

I hope we'll touch our students' hearts.

[Shira Shalit]

I based my activity on the story ' The Last Morning' by Bernard Gotfryd.
I started by asking the class what kind of communications they are familiar with? Then I showed them pictures with different universal facial expressions and they had to say what each expression means -it was easy for them to guess. After that I gave 4 students notes with written expressions which they had to mime and the rest of the class had to guess. In the notes there were sentences, such as "don't worry" etc. and the students had difficulties with guessing those expressions just by looking at the student's face. I asked them what was in common to all the 'actors' and they said right away they all tried to communicate by using eye contact and facial expressions.
I then asked the class to look for sentences in the story that showed the family communicated through their eyes. We talked about it and I said that in my opinion we can see the family had a very strong bond because when they communicated with their eyes they said complicated thoughts and they didn't only act out a universal expression (such as sadness or happiness which you can identify in a person you don't even know) and in order to understand one another you need to really know the person.
Good Luck.

[hila ovadia]

i also based my activity on the story ' The Last Morning' by Bernard Gotfryd.
i brought pictures of the Holocaust.Each picture relates to an aspect in the story.Each of the student had to pick out a picture and explain how it connects to the story.Part of the pictures were drown and part were photograph.
Then i asked the students "how long does the story take place"?
the answer was only 24 hours, the purpose was to show them that it's a long story with mant events but it's only 24 hours.Also we can see that there are 4 parts morning-afternoon-night-morning
and there are also 3 generations young-middle aged-old.The writer mentions each minute of the day like he knew that this is the last day; the title of the story,his mother birthday,morning, 4 o'clock in the afternoon,every prayer..
In the end of the lesson i told the students what happened in that day.It makes the story more realistic.The 16 August 1942:18,000 Jews were sent from the Radom ghetto to Trablinka.The date is mentioned twice because it is the last day of his family. I hope the students will get much benefit from this lesson and enjoy it.

[Karen Shawn]

Hila,
I found your lesson quite moving! I think I will try the same idea. I really appreciate how you point out the 24-hour aspect of it, and also the 3 generations. Most of all, I think you are so right to offer your students the historical facts that surround the story. It makes it not only more realistic, as you say, but it also helps them to understand what the survivors had to endure. Thank you for this suggestion!
Karen Shawn

[myriam bryks-fuchs]

Dear Keren:

I am myriam bryks-fuchs, bella's sister,
wanted to let you know that i bought a copy to bella of the anthology and it is so well laid out and thorough and i can see the hard work and hours that went into it, kol hakavod
am sorry i did not have the chance to meet you when i was in israel, maybe next time.

i feel that the website needs to have a better method of navigating it
i find it quite difficult i do not know if you have had other comments regarding that

this website is full of knowledge and is laid out beautifully but the navigation needs some touch ups
thank you and keep up the good work

[Dr. Keren Goldfrad]

Dear Myriam,

It is a pleasure to "meet" you. I did not get other feedback regarding the navigation of the site, but I see what you're saying.

Maybe the problem with the navigation is the fact that many of the items appear in the main page and in other locations as well. Could you please guide me as to what you feel is problematic?

Maybe one way of improving the current situation is by creating categories within the forums. Any suggestions as to how we should categorize the existing forums?

I'm so pleased to hear that you like the anthology. Dr. Karen Shawn is the one who deserves full credit for this.
I look forward to meeting you in Israel,
Keren